Modeling the Effects of Radiation Reaction for a Next Generation Pulsed Power Machine

Next Generation Pulsed Power (NGPP) is a future machine being designed at Sandia National Laboratories for delivering >60MA of current to a load. When load radii, such as MagLIF, are less than or equal to 1mm, the peak magnetic fields in the load region are expected to be greater than 10,000T. Electrons that are in the load region will conduct small and fast cyclotron orbits in the magnetically insulated transmission line load region that will result in the emission of synchrotron radiation. The Lorentz-Abraham-Dirac Force Law describes the force that the electron experiences due to the emission of radiation and can be used to calculate its rate of cycloidal kinetic energy loss. In this presentation, we find that the e-folding time for electron kinetic energy loss at a magnetic field of 7200T is roughly 100ns, which corresponds to a possible pulse length design time scale for NGPP. We also show how the drift kinetic motion due to grad B drift of the electrons is modified due to the loss of cycloidal kinetic energy. Finally, we discuss the radiated energy spectrum in the load region where synchrotron radiation is expected to occur.